Photoshop Plug-ins have added a whole new level of possibilities to digital image editing. Applied from within the host program, these mini applications can also be used with other image editors such as Paint Shop Pro, Digital Image Suite and Photoshop Elements.
With hundreds of plug-ins now available, users are spoilt for choice. You could, however, shell out a lot of money unnecessarily. In the first instance, check what plug-ins come with your editing program. Still haven't found what you're looking for? The next port of call could be Adobe's excellent website followed by the Pluginsite. Both have a huge selection rated by popularity and quality, and many are free.
Broadly, plug-ins come into either the productive or creative category. Productive filters speed up and improve post-photograph editing processes. Fluid Mask, for example, is a masking tool that makes it a snip to mask a subject and remove it from the background. Developed by UK firm Vertus, Fluid Mask uses state-of-the-art software to make the masking process faster and more accurate than ever before.
Another UK success is FixerLabs. Their FixerBundle - FocusFixer, NoiseFixer, ShadowFixer and TrueBlur - emphatically puts the F back into Focus. If you want sharp images and infinite control over shadow and blur, your search is over.
As it could be for an efficient and reasonably priced Depth of Field filter. DOF Generator Pro creates a variety of those depth of field effects so cherished and so easily produced by conventional photography.
Printing large scale, but worried about image quality? Look at the Genuine Fractals and PXL SmartScale filters. Both use sophisticated interpolation software to upsize images that will then print convincingly at A3.
Tessellation, lighting, borders, sepia, ageing, bleaching... there's a plug in for any creative, ambient effect you might want. But how often will you use it? Page Curl, for instance? Stunning the first time, moderately interesting the second and cliche the third. The simple rule is: wherever possible, try before you buy.
AutoFX has a terrific range of plug-ins. Powerful and infinitely configurable, they allow the user to apply a vast number of lighting, tonal and framing effects, and more than repay the learning process involved. Chose from Mystical Lighting, Mystical Tint, Tone Color or Photo/Graphic Edges.
For excellent photographic effects - polarise, grain, faux film, bleach and many more - look no further than Digital Film Tools' excellent 55mm plug-in suite. Similarly, you won't find a more convincing scene-setter than Digital Element's Aurora, which can create a stunning virtual universe with beautifully rendered natural elements.
AV Bros produces some very creative plug-ins, many of them freeware. AV Bros Puzzle Pro 2.0 will superimpose a user-configurable "jigsaw" effect on top of an image. Transfer the jigsawed image onto fabric photo-paper, get the design and technology department involved and you have a project that kids are guaranteed to enjoy.
The bad old days of "watched kettle" time when applying a plug-in are thankfully long gone. It's worth remembering, however, that with digital file sizes for a JPEG image routinely exceeding 2Mb, an underpowered computer will seriously slow you down. If you have been thinking of increasing RAM capacity, now’'s the time.
